Eurobike 2016: New Dropper & Cassette From E*13 Components

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As a company founded on producing chain devices, E*13 have been steadily growing their range over the past decade, having introduced additional drivetrain items such as cranksets, chainrings and wide-range cassettes. They’ve also added complete wheels to their lineup after having absorbed The Hive brand and their unique oversized hub design, and you’ll also see E*13 tyres joining the line up for 2017.

At Eurobike, E*13 displayed its most comprehensive range yet, which included full wheel systems, new cassette designs and a brand new dropper seatpost that looks to set durability as its most prominent feature.

E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
E*13 produce complete wheelsets, and now matching tyres too. The wheels cover hard-hitting trail territory and DH racers too.
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
Sticky rubber compounds and reinforced casings make the TRS+ a good looking tyre for enduro racing. Lookout for our upcoming review in the next issue of Singletrack Magazine.
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
Lots of broken carbon bits in a show of “look how much tougher our stuff is than yours!”
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
In the DH arena, E*13 are running their own proprietary hub and 7-speed cassette setup, which Aaron Gwin has been rocking on the World Cup race circuit. To reasonable success we suppose…
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
7-Speed E*13 cassette that is specific to their LG1R downhill hub. The hub features wider flanges for broader spoke bracing angles.
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
After the success of their 10-speed wide range cassette, E*13 are dropping an 11-speed version that goes to…erm…11.
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
The new TRS plus cassette rocks a 9-46t range, which is absolutely massive. Compatible with long cage Shimano 11-speed derailleurs and any SRAM 11-speed mech. Mounts via the SRAM XD hub driver.
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
E*13 hub and cassette in tandem on a neat display unit. How’s the size of that 46t??
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
Tighter range down the lower half of the cassette, with bigger jumps as you get further into the climbing gears.
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
Like their existing wide-range cassette, the TRS 11-speed model features both alloy and steel for the sprockets. However, it’s now a lighter 2-piece design.
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
Crazy machining goodness going on here. Wizardry if you will!
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
Not a particularly useful design for riding, but chances are Aaron Gwin could still win a World Cup race on it.
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
The really big news for E*13 is the announcement of a new dropper seatpost. The TRS Plus dropper features 150mm of travel, internal routing, and comes in 30.9mm and 31.6mm diameters.
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
Neat twin-bolt head.
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
Internal cable routing for a sleek clean look.
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
Here’s where it gets interesting: the TRS Plus dropper post is entirely mechanical. It has a coil spring inside, and an expanding collet system that locks the post into preset grooves at 0mm, 75mm, 110mm and 150mm of travel. So you have 4 positions in total.
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
The cable head mounts at the base of the post for easy servicing. To access the internals, a Shimano cassette tool is used to open up the dropper, and all of the internal parts can be serviced/replaced by the user with the purchase of a ‘Wear Kit’ from E*13. The guys were sick of using unreliable dropper posts, and while they could have released one earlier, they wanted to ensure they had a robust design that wouldn’t crap out on the trail.
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
And the pinch bolt for the cable at the lever end. We likey!
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
The lever is a shifter-style paddle that offers plenty of leverage for a smooth feel. The display model was very slick in use, and the post is insanely easy to compress, with very little force required.
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
Not so new, but cool nonetheless – carbon TRS cranks with a spiderless narrow-wide chainring.
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
And the downhill version: the LG1R carbon cranks.
E*13 Eurobike 2016 Singletrack Mag
Those unique plastic/alloy/plastic sandwich pedals from E*13. Proof that these guys have been thinking outside the box for a long time!

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